The present invention relates to registration of multi-modal medical images, and more particularly, to registration of ultrasound images and physiological models to x-ray fluoroscopic images.
In recent years, there has been a major trend in cardiac therapy towards minimally invasive transcatheter procedures to reduce the risks involved with classical surgical techniques. For example, such minimally invasive surgical techniques can be used in procedures such as aortic valve replacement. In such minimally invasive cardiac surgeries, devices such as implants are delivered into the patient through vessels via a catheter. Navigating the catheter inside the vessels of a patient is challenging. X-ray fluoroscopy is typically used to visualize the catheter; however, this imaging modality does not capture soft tissue structure of the patient. In order to visualize soft tissue, a second imaging modality, such as Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE), is required.
Visualization of the catheter and the surrounding soft tissue typically requires two displays, one for each imaging modality. The surgeon must interpret the two separately displayed imaging modalities, extract relevant information, and spatially transform the information between the two coordinate systems and ultimately into the patient. The fusion of fluoroscopy and ultrasound images into a single visualization is desirable and to simply navigation in transcatheter procedures.